Syndicate
by Rukiabi
Summary: With no where to go, Tyson is persuaded to join the BBA in saving ancient souls from being controlled by a madman while at the same time avoiding fights with The Syndicate and their cybernetic teenage fighters. KaTy
1. Mail

Rukiabi: This is one of my first, well, okay, I guess it IS my first actual attempt at fan fiction. The only things I've been doing before were drabbles. Poor Itachi and other cast members of Naruto were mutilated by me… and I'm going to upload a Part 2 very soon? What more crazy zucchini adventures must I force Itachi to go through ?

Warnings: This fic WILL be a Shounen-ai fic in the future! …it just so happens that you got lucky here in the first chapter where I'm struggling just to introduce not even half of the characters of the whole story and to make it seem like there's actually a plot here. I'm not sarcastic or anything am I?

Stormyskys-chan! This is for youu! … I wish I could write fics like you can…. No… just watch me beat your Inuyasha fics mwahahahahaha! Mow o.-

Disclaimer: All characters of Beyblade are © of Aoki Takao.

- - - - - - - - - -

Ha ha ha…  
Come on ------, I know you can do better than this...  
You know…  
.. I do love you…  
.…...------ .

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
Syndicate Ch.1: Mail  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Gasp!  
Sweat slid down the side of a flushed cheek as the boy continued to pant.

_Damn_…

It had been another dream.

The boy sat up in his bed and wiped off his sweat with his palms. After taking a deep breath, he got out of his bed and walked towards the bathroom.

Upon reaching the sink, the boy turned on the faucet and splashed his face with cold water, then looked up into the mirror at his reflection. A teenage boy about average height with tan coloured skin stared back at him. His mahogany coloured eyes strayed to the reflection of his messy, midnight blue hair framing his round face. The eyes closed in tiredness as the boy sighed.

Eighteen years old….

The boy made an about face and began dragging his weary body back to bed.

Eighteen years old and alone…

He sighed again as he fell down onto his twin-sized bed belly first and hugged the pillow to his chest.

"Life… doesn't go anywhere, does it?"

- - - - - - - - - -

A blond haired boy who looked about eighteen or nineteen years old walked through a set of electronic sliding doors. 

"Good morning Mr. Mizuhara."

The blond boy turned his head and smiled at the receptionist.

"Good morning to you too!"

The blond continued past the lobby and into one of the elevators at the end of the room. A veteran hand pressed a button and the elevator began rising—but stopped halfway towards its destination.

"Oh no, oh no! Please wait!" cried a brown haired boy with a pair of round glasses atop his head as he entered the elevator just before the doors closed.

The blond smiled and made a small sweat drop at the new visitor in the small boxy room.

"Morning, Chief."

"Oh, Max," The Chief said between gasps of air, "it's you."

Said Max watched with an amused expression at his friend taking a giant inhale only to choke at inhaling too much air.

"There's," cough, cough, "too many elevators in this building!" The Chief made a sigh as he leaned against the elevator railing. "I pushed every single elevator button on that floor and it just had to be the one on the farthest end from me that opened."

The blond tilted his head at the mouse haired boy's rush.

"What are you in such a hurry for?"

"Well…" began the Chief as he adjusted his glasses, "I've discovered something, or rather, Dizzi discovered something and I have to show it to Director Dickenson right away."

"Wow. It must be really important to get you out of the office like this." responded Max.

"Hey! You say it like as if I don't ever leave my office room."

"Well… you don't come out a lot. You're always working, not that that's a bad thing." The blond smiled.

"Because none of you agents understand the meaning of intellectual work."

And right at that, the elevator pinged and the doors slid open for its occupants to take their leave.

"Ha ha, how can we Chief? None of us are as smart as you."

The Chief, who couldn't help but agree with Max, had nothing to respond back. Even though he was eighteen years old, he had always been a bit smarter than all of his peers. Well, a bit was an understatement. He had graduated from high school when he was thirteen and had graduated from University when he was only sixteen. The Chief, who wasn't even an adult yet had been given a job at the BBA and had been working there for about two years.

Both the brunette and the blond walked down the carpeted hallway on their right side from exiting the elevator until they reached a set of doors that were about the same size as the rest of the doors in the hall except that their frames were shaped differently, curving inwards so that the outside corners of the doors were sharper than 90 degrees.

The Chief quickly knocked on the door and began fidgeting with his tie until what sounded like a clearing of the throat could be heard from behind the pair of doors and a "Yes, who is it?" was asked.

"It's Kenny, sir." The Chief replied.

A sound of shuffling papers could be heard before a "Come in." was issued from the boss. Kenny opened the doors and walked into the office room, followed by Max who turned and closed the doors behind him.

"I have something important to show you Mr. Dickenson, sir."

Dickenson nodded at The Chief before he turned his attention to the blond beside him.

"And you as well Mr. Mizuhara?"

"Oh no," Max smiled and raised his hands in front of him." I was just following. I don't have any important business other than to state that I've successfully completed my mission."

Dickenson made another nod and said in almost a whisper, "Well done Agent Chimera.", before turning back to Kenny. "What is it that you wanted to show me?"

The Chief took a step forward.

"It's as I've said, something that's important and that I believe will interest you. This person."

He opened a folder that he had been carrying with him which contained several sheets of printed reports and a photograph of a person.

"I had Dizzi searching through the database of witnesses from past cases. Remember the last case with the bit beast in the book?"

"Oh yeah," exclaimed Max, "Rei had that case didn't he?"

"Yes, but the thing is, during that case, one of the witnesses that happened to be in the bookstore at the time of the beast's release was a potential Senpaku."

Both listeners stared intently at The Chief.

"So you would like for us to recruit this young man." said Dickenson, although it sounded more like a question.

"Uh maybe, err, yes, but that's not the main reason why I came here. Just look at him! Who does he remind you of?"

The two persons looked more closely at the photo on the desk.

"Ah! That's----!"

- - - - - - - - - -

The morning that he had spent trudging out of bed had felt like hours. Once he had finally gotten a grip upon some wakeful enzymes, he had turned to the hallway first thing leading towards the kitchen. Setting down his coffee, Tyson gave out a sigh. He had never been a lover of coffee; actually, he disliked it, always preferring green tea over the diluted murky brown of machine grinded beans. 

But at times like this, it sure did the trick!

Tyson stared down at his instant powered coffee drink, completely mixed and swirling in a whirlpool of warm water and milk. Sometimes, sitting like this got him thinking, thinking about his past, about his pains. Most times, he would just trudge back into his usual routine of the day.

After drinking some coffee, usually in the mornings after a nightmare, Tyson would go into the bathroom, brush his teeth, take a quick shower, and get dressed in some casual clothing – usually consisting of a navy blue and light blue striped dress shirt without sleeves and buttons undone over a bright yellow T-shirt and a pair of tight blue jeans. He would eat a piece of toast smeared with blueberry jam and then exit his small apartment room that was four stories high from the ground. He worked at a small bookstore in the middle of 14th street and would head there every weekdays afternoon after buying a small pastry from the bakers across the street to be eaten as his lunch. And then in the evening, after shelving at least sixty newly ordered books and saying 'Arigatou-gozaimasu! Come again, onegai-shimasu!' forty-seven times to the customers (and browsers alike), he would head home to welcome a small pot of Mac and Cheese for dinner with his stomach.

But this morning was different. Sure enough, he had brushed his teeth and washed his hair with Rainforest Fresh shampoo, but when he got to his door, Tyson was surprised to find a beige coloured envelope lying on his autumn coloured doormat. From the looks of it, it seemed to have been slid under the door some time between last night and that very morning when he wasn't looking. Most probably, the person responsible for delivering it had come while he had been asleep.

He never got mail. No, not even the promotional ads asking him to buy strange and useless products. This was the first time so who…? Tyson walked up to the anonymously sent letter and picked it up. He wasn't even sure if it was a letter. As he stood there with his index finger and thumb ready to pull back the envelope flap, he thought: What if it was a bomb? But who would want to kill him? Well… He pinched his eyes shut, attempting to cut off the stream of memories of his past.

Shaking his head, he tried to convince himself that it was probably a mistake and that he wasn't the real person who was supposed to receive it, even as his hands somehow worked on their own accord, successfully opening the envelope and unfolding the sheet of paper inside. His eyes scanned over the wide piece of compressed wood pulp which surprisingly didn't have much to say. But the meaning of the context was overloading.

Dear Kinomiya Tyson-san,

Do you wish for a change in your life?

- - - - - - - - - - -

Rukiabi: And the audience screams out in agony. NANDE? Why did you make the first chapter so boring ? Mr. Mizuhara? What the HELL is that? You should call him Mizuhara-san for good ole anime's sake! ……… well, I didn't want them to seem too japanesey I suppose. I wish I knew what Mr. Dickenson's name was in Japanese though… meh o.o--

Wow, this really pisses me off. I can't use stuff with shift anything anymore! I can't make underscores or anything! GRRR > ! It won't even let me make wide spaces ;.; whyy?

Oh yeah and by the way, this chapter is also dedicated to a real life friend of mine- RGAP-48, who is, or was, a Days Of Our Lives freak. Guess what RGAP-48? I finally did it! I know, I know, I said I would write a fic how many years ago? ….. um… well, I finally did it! And now just watch me become one of those people who never update ever and get flamers and stuff hahaha ! pounds the ground with her fists while laughing maniacally

Bai bai neee o. ?


	2. Decision

Rukiabi: Wait a second, I'm not exactly late in updating am I? Err…. Man I wrote so much more than my last chappy..

Disclaimer: All characters of Beyblade are © of Aoki Takao.

- - - - - - - - -

Fluffy-white clouds hung in the air of an afternoon-bright blue sky, moving ever so slowly from the continuous push of the high winds. 

A dark cloaked figure stood underneath the shadow of a giant satellite looking down upon the busy traffic of the streets below from atop a high rise building. Behind him, a very slim man wearing a black dress shirt and pants, accompanying his snake-like face, hobbled out of his hiding place from behind the miniature protruding building leading to the exit door from the roof. "Heh!" the man sneered. "I've gone and passed through every one of your stupid obstacles. Your traps have nothing on me, even with this permanent limp of mine."

The cloaked figure made no response or any indication of acknowledgement of the boasting intruder. "So, you're the last obstacle that I'm supposed to be afraid of," the slim intruder said as he began taking steps towards the figure, "the last obstacle that I'm going to tear down, hey?"

The slim man stopped two metres away from his so-called last obstacle. But the figure didn't so much as move and continued to stand on the very edge of the building keeping his back towards the intruder and allowing the strong winds to blow and billow his dark cloak. The very slim man reached towards the side of his pants, towards his black leather belt, and pulled out a sleek, jet black pistol. "From this angle, I could shoot you down in less than half a second."

Wind continued to blow through thick hair and the clothes of the occupants of the rooftop. A particular large cloud covered the sun as it passed and created a large area of darkness and anticipation over where the two opponents stood. When the cloud had passed, the dark cloaked figure turned his shadowed face to the side and smirked.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
Syndicate Ch.2: Decision  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Here he was. This had been the moment that he had been expecting. He was standing on the sidewalk across the street of a fifty story tall building. Everything that he had gone through in the past had led him to that exact spot where he stood. The passing pedestrians, the trafficking cars, the sounds, the time… but, why? Why had he chosen to walk that path, to take that opportunity given to him? Wait, what opportunity? He could have stayed the same. He could have chosen to live the rest of his life peacefully shelving away books and helping customers with heavy packages carry them to their cars. He could have lived that way but…. Why? 

'_Because I don't want to'_

- - - - - - - - - -

Dear Kinomiya Tyson-san, 

Do you wish for a change in your life?

..….

If so, if you truly believe you are ready to take that step forward, we will be waiting for you.

-BBA

"BBA? What is that supposed to stand for?" 'What is this really? A joke? No… There isn't anyone who really knows me or anyone who would even care to pull a prank on me.'

'This is no joke,' Tyson thought as he stood there in front of his door still staring at the piece of paper that had been slid underneath his door and purposely fallen into his hands. The person or persons who had sent this to him were aware of his existence. Maybe they even knew who he truly was… how long though had they known of him? How did they find out about him? Was he being spied on? Targeted in amidst of some evil plot? And yet more questions came to Tyson's mind as he continued to stand there, his fingers beginning to leave crumpled imprints where they held the paper.

"Arrghhh!" Tyson yelled in frustration as he brought both his hands over his head, still clutching the life moving message. He couldn't take this anymore. No, he had to get to work! If he didn't leave now, he would be late- and he was NEVER late. He took one last look at the message- 'Do you wish for a change in your life?'- and felt something strange, almost like an invisible tug at his heart, before he threw the letter in an incomprehensible direction into the air, grabbed the key for the lock, ran out of apartment and back into his daily routine of his once peaceful life. The letter floated down and, surprisingly, landed safely atop the kitchen counter, three metres away from where Tyson had discarded his newfound distraction.

Bell chimes rung from the sudden contact with the swinging anomaly. "Ohayo, Ms. Kincaide! Sorry if I'm late!" Tyson gave the store owner a sheepish look.

Ms. Kincaide, a brown, mouse-haired and middle aged lady wearing a pair of round spectacles turned around from her place behind some numerous stacks of books encircling her. "Oh Tyson! Why, that's simply nonsense. You're right on time as always." The lady gave Tyson a warm smile. "Could you possibly help me here? I seem to be in a bit of a fix."

"Oh, sure!" Tyson immediately leaped forward to help Ms. Kincaide carry the large stacks of books around her to their respective shelves. "We just received the large order of books from Books Sanseido so you've certainly got your work cut out for you today!"

"Yeah." Tyson nodded. This was what he should do. This was what he could do and would do for the remainder of his existence. It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy the job, in fact, he really liked it. He really enjoyed reading. They always had a way of pulling him out of reality and into a whole new world. That must have been the reason why he had chosen to work in the bookstore in the first place, to not only gain an income working with the things that he loved, but also to … to escape from reality?

'_Do you wish for a change in your life?'_

"I… don't know..."

"Don't know what, Tyson?"

"Oh! Ms. Kincaide! Sorry I- uh, it's nothing." It was the first time he had ever been distracted from his work. He had even placed some horror genre books into the children's books only basket.

"I was calling you but you seemed to be off in a different world. What were you thinking of, Tyson?"

'_That letter…'  
_

"Hey, Ms. Kincaide… would it be alright if I take tomorrow off from work?" Tyson watched the mouse-haired lady turn back to climbing a mini ladder and stacking some hard cover fantasy books on top of the shelves. He had never missed a day of work ever since he had started working there so of course he had never asked for a day off. Because this was the first time, he wasn't sure how Ms. Kincaide would take it. She would probably think it weird for him to ask of something like that all of a sudden out of the blue, especially from someone like him who didn't seem interested in taking a break. And, well, he hadn't been, that is, until now.

But instead of receiving a strange reaction or expression, Ms. Kincaide smiled softly to herself, as if secretly knowing the reason why he had asked the question. "You're still so young."

"Ms. Kincaide?"

The store owner turned and showed her approving smile to Tyson. "You have a lot of things ahead of you Tyson and truthfully, I can handle things here on my own." Ms. Kincaide raised an arm and attempted to flex her muscles. "I used to be a third year arm wrestling champion after all! Tyson, a person like you has too much to look forward to. Someone such as yourself doesn't belong here, although I couldn't appreciate your help more."

"Ms. Kincaide, what are you saying?"

Her eyes sparkled. "You've found that something to look forward to, havn't you?"

When I got home after work, the letter was still there waiting for me.

"Huh? An address?" Below the unknown abbreviation that was 'BBA', on the very bottom of the page and in size 8 font held an address to the senders of the message.

8054 Madison Avenue

Bay City

"Something to look forward to, huh?"

- - - - - - - - - -

He crossed, or more specifically jaywalked, the busy road towards the tall looming building that was the said place in the address left to him in the letter. His whole body felt stiff in a mixture of curiosity, anticipation, and excitement. He was now in front of the doors. Once he went through those doors, he wouldn't be able to turn back. He had traveled by sky train and bus in order to get there and he wasn't going to put all that effort into vain. _'Ous!'_ he thought to himself. He could do it. As soon as Tyson walked through the set of electronic sliding doors, he immediately turned his attention to the reception desk where a blond youth looking about the same age as himself stood chatting away happily to the receptionist. The blond seemed to have sensed the gaze and turned around to meet eye contact with him. 

'_That guy._.' Tyson thought. Their gazes held for almost a minute before the blond broke eye contact and calmly strode towards an elevator at the end of the room. Without waiting too long, the elevator door opened and the blond haired boy disappeared within.

Tyson narrowed his eyes. This place was definitely different. He walked towards the receptionist and to the same lady that had just recently spoken with the blond. "Welcome to the BeyBlade Association, how may I help you?"

'_BeyBlade Association? That must be what those abbreviations mean._' "Hi, um, my name is Kinomiya Tyson. I was given a letter-"

"Oh yes, Mr. Kinomiya." The receptionist calmly answered. "We have been expecting you. Please proceed to an elevator and ride it to floor 35. Then continue along the right side of the hallway to Conference room 308."

"Err, thanks." Tyson started towards the same elevator that the blond had entered and pushed the up button. When the doors opened, he walked in and placed a hand on the elevator railings as he began ascending. _'They had been expecting me… which means that they were pretty sure that I would come.'_ When the doors opened once again, Tyson followed the receptionist's instructions and walked along the right side of the hallway from the elevator until he stood outside the Conference room 308. What could be lying in wait for him behind those doors? Well, it definitely wasn't anything physically dangerous that much he was sure. Well, it was now or never. Tyson knocked on the doors.

A somewhat gruff voice spoke up from within. "Come in."

Tyson turned the long handle of the doorknob and opened the door. He peered in to find-- a long and oval-shaped black wooden table with five people seated at the end of it. The wall opposite of the doors and where he was standing was not a wall at all but a huge from-ceiling-to-floor window. A white-haired and balding at the same time man made a gesture towards a seat farther down the table from them but not so far away as there were twelve seats stretching along the length of the table, with one seat right in front of the window and indicating where the head and director sat.

Tyson took a seat two seats away from a black haired boy with particularly pointy ears. He turned to face Tyson and smiled. Something twitched in the back of his mind but he pushed it away as the Director began speaking, "I am sure you are greatly curious as to why we have invited you here. But first, let us introduce ourselves to you. I am Mr. Dickenson. I am the director of the BeyBlade Association that is the cover for the BitBeast Acquisition, of which I am also the director of." Mr. Dickenson's fluffy white mustache bobbed up and down as he had said this with extreme calmness.

"I'm Mizuhara Max." The blond sitting to the right of Mr. Dickenson made a salute. Tyson noted that it was the same blond that he had briefly made eye contact with in the lobby of the building. "This neko-jin beside me here is called Kon Rei." Max waved a hand towards the black haired boy who once again smiled lightly and said "Hey."

"Ahem!" Tyson turned his attention to the brown haired boy sitting opposite of Rei whom, strangely enough, had a pair of glasses atop his head and unseen eyes covered by huge masses of brown hair. "I'm Kenny, also known as the Chief. I specialize in designing the beyblade parts for the BeyBlade Association but also mainly undercover research for the BitBeast Acquisition. Max and Rei there are two of our main agents in finding and capturing of BitBeasts, that is to say, the main goal and job of the BitBeast Acquisition is to find and capture these ancient souls called BitBeasts. It may not seem believable now, but bitbeasts do exist."

"You mean the long eel-like creature that came out of one of the children's fantasy books last month."

"Yes," Kenny nodded to Tyson in approval of how quickly he came to believe his exclamations. "and there are more of these bitbeasts all over the world. Though, the BitBeast Acquisition has their headquarters here because we've found that this city and area has the most bitbeasts so far encountered."

Mr. Dickenson laced his fingers together and continued off from where Kenny had ended, "The reason why we have called you here is to see if you are interested in becoming a member of The BitBeast Acquisition."

"And if I'm not?" Tyson dared.

"Then we will allow you to go free at the promise and contract that you not speak of any of the details that we have told you here today to anyone in anyway." Tyson's attention perked to the last speaker who had yet to introduce himself.

"This man beside me is, if you will," Mr. Dickenson nodded his head to the pale navy blue haired man sitting to his left who nodded back and turned to face Tyson, "My name is Kinomiya Hiroshi, but call me Hiro for short." 'Kinomiya Hiro?' Tyson narrowed his eyes at Hiro but said nothing. "Believe it or not but we are believed to be brothers."

"Brothers?" Tyson exclaimed. "Yes," Hiro responded, "other than the obvious fact that we look too much alike," to which Tyson nodded as if finally discovering that the speaker was his mirror image, "I remember my mother had been pregnant before she had left my father and I. It's very likely that that child was you. If it is true that we are siblings, then you may have just found yourself a family. You would no longer have to live alone."

Tyson's head was spinning like mad. He had a family? There were people who actually wanted him around?

"The only way for you to find out if we truly are related is if you get a blood testing here in one of our labs. But of course, us being family has nothing to do with the situation here other than the fact that if you choose not to become a member, then I'm afraid you will have to return back to the life that you were living before that letter ever came to you. You will forget that that event ever happened and go back to shelving books as you had always done."

"So basically, you're forcing me to join the BBA, is that it?"

"No, that's not exactly it. It's against the rules to involve with those who are unrelated to our cause. It's not fair for them. Even if we were family, you would not be allowed to live with me because of my job. I am the coordinator of the agents. I also work as an agent most times myself as well. Our work isn't fun and games. It's dangerous and serious. If you can't handle it then you are not fit to be a Sentoki. But back to forcing you to join, yes, we would like you to join as we do need more members. It's been found that you have an exceptional sensitivity to be able to detect the bitbeasts and your powers are greatly needed to help not only us but to enforce a safer environment for others as well. But the choice is still entirely up to you. Whether you join or----"

The window shattered. Shards of glass broke inward as Max threw himself over Mr. Dickenson and together they hit the floor along with Rei, The Chief, and Hiro whom also ducked to the ground or underneath the table as two dark mangled figures flew through the flying pieces of glass. And it was in that moment that time had seemed to slow down exponentially and Tyson, who had stood up in amidst of the whole event rather than duck, felt the wind created by the cloak of the dark figure, passing by him in an extremely slowed paced. The figure turned his head to the side while still in mid-air and made eye contact with Tyson.

Crimson met mohagany.

And then time returned to its normal pace, the cloaked figure landed on one knee upon a still-less corpse whose black dress shirt and pants were burning with small flames. The figure stood up from his crouched position. When the dual toned haired figure turned around to face the BitBeast Acquisition members, some already starting to stand, he spoke with cold grey eyes, "Sorry I'm late."

- - - - - - - - - -

Rukiabi: Yay! I am done the second chappy hurrah! I can't believe I did it! Now, just give me a three month vacation and maybe I'll be happy to continue this again after ;; 

Merow, what are those things that lead to the entrance/exit to and from the rooftops called? Tyson is so OOC, sorries ;.; Oh yeah and by the way, Books Sanseido is an actual bookstore in Japan hehe. When my peoples went to Japan for vacation, they brought back a manga from that bookstore. Unfortunately, not only was it all in japanese so I couldn't read it (of course), it was also ecchi (gotta love them porn!)

Bai bai for now minna!


	3. Reason

Rukibi: hmm… I believe this will be the first chapter of many more fights to come. Please enjoy. And then flame me for my late-ness later (smile smile).

Disclaimer: All characters of Beyblade are © of Aoki Takao.

- - - - - - - - - -

Everything had been in slow motion. The glass shattering to pieces. Everyone throwing themselves to the floor. A burning black ball flying through the sudden confusion. A turn of a head. Two pairs of eyes meeting in a split second. An abrupt landing. A tardy agent picking himself off of his defeated opponent. A reason.

"Sorry I'm late."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
Syndicate Ch.3: Reason  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"I apologize," the boy swiftly jumped off the table, his dark cloak flowing after him, "for my late arrival."

"Well uhh.." Mr. Dickenson lifted himself from underneath the wooden table and readjusted his glasses, "that was certainly unexpected."

"It's getting cold in here." The Chief said, his knees knocking together and his arms brought up to hug himself. Wind was now blowing into the now exposed conference room from where the window once was.

Rei got up and brushed shards of glass off his pants as Hiro took a look at the current situation.

"Just like Kai to make a flashy entrance." Max, already standing, added in with grin.

Said individual's expression and tone of voice couldn't have lacked more emotion. "What did I miss?"

Tyson was speechless as he stared at the dual tone haired boy a metre away from him. The boy acted as if Tyson wasn't even there, but Tyson couldn't have been more aware of his presence.

"Ah, this is Kinomiya Tyson. He's our new candidate agent for the BitBeast Acquisition." The Chief had almost sounded excited.

"Oh?" Kai closed his eyes. "Is that all?"

"Well, he hasn't decided yet whether he wishes to be an agent or not."

Hiro picked up from where The Chief had left off. "So Tyson, what is your decision?"

Tyson's breathing quickened as his heart beat raced faster. All of a sudden, he didn't know what he was doing there. Why did he go there in the first place? And with the sudden late arrival of their last agent… He... didn't want to be there anymore; he couldn't be there anymore. "I… I need time."

He looked to the faces of the Director and the agents, all but the dual toned blunette who was facing away from him on the other side of the table. He felt like he was gasping for air. "Please. Please give me time to think about this."

The Director and the Coordinator exchanged glances before nodding. Hiro took a step forward. "Alright, we'll give you one week to decide. Think over our conversation here carefully and make a sure decision, for the route that you decide to take in the next week may change your life forever."

Tyson didn't look back as he exited the room, the floor, and the building. The only thing he felt he could do was walk out of there with only more pressuring thoughts instead of answered questions, and clenched fists. Answered questions? What did he want answered? A secret organization called the BBA, short for BitBeast Acquisition. Agents who find and capture BitBeasts. Kinomiya Hiro, his brother? He kept his fists clenched the whole ride back on the buses and sky train. _'Crimson…'_

He almost hesitated when he reached his apartment building to enter his room. This was where he lived. And the bookstore was where he worked. To work for the BBA meant that he would have to move residence and quit his current job. He wouldn't be able to see Ms. Kincaide again. He would also be put into constant dangerous and possibly life threatening situations. He truly wouldn't be able to live the way he was living now. Everything would change if he decided to work for the BBA. He wouldn't be alone anymore. He would have comrades striving for the same goal as him. It would be just like old—

'_No.'_

Tyson opened his eyes. He should stop standing outside his apartment door. He'd probably looked really stupid and suspicious to passerbys and his neighbours, even though no one had walked down that hallway yet. He pulled out his key, clicked it into lock, turned it left, entered the room, and leaned back against the door, closing it at the same time. Tyson sighed. He never used to have THIS much to think about. It used to be so simple and he never had to worry. He didn't really need a future, did he? Wait. Since when did he start thinking like that?

After locking his door behind him, he walked into his kitchen to get a drink of tap water. He didn't bother turning on the lights. He liked the lack of light sometimes. And after placing the glass in the sink, he walked into his living room to resume reading his current favourite book, Alice In Wonderland, when he noticed the open glass door to the deck and the swinging curtains being blown by the wind. The sun was beginning to set outside. He didn't remember opening the deck door that morning. Something was off.

Tyson began checking around the living room but found nothing disturbed. Nothing was wrong in the kitchen either. When he began heading towards his bathroom and his bedroom, he stopped. He was standing just outside his bedroom door. The door was open just a crack and there was a rustling sound coming from inside. Who could it be? No one else lived there except for himself. Just as he was reaching for the doorknob, the door flew open and an invisible something kicked him in the chest, sending him flying to the wall behind him.

'_W-what? What hit me?'_

When he looked in front of him, there didn't seem to be anyone there. His room looked empty of any life, but it was completely trashed—wait. In the center of the room, there was a sort of transparent distorted space in the shape of a man. It was almost completely unnoticeable, and would have been if the figure had stayed still. But now, the stranger was walking towards him and the edges of the warped space of the man moved, distinguishing the shape of a moving figure. He was in trouble.

"Who are you?" Tyson put up both his hands in front of him in fists and got into a fighting stance.

"He he he… If you can't find the remnants, then just go for the source." The man leapt forward and would have put a foot into Tyson's face had he not rolled to the side to face the length of the hallway, allowing the intruder's foot to heavily dent his wall instead.

"Oh? Interesting… you can see me? This suit must be malfunctioning or something. No one should be able to see me." The intruder lifted his foot out of the wall and stood on twos once again. Tyson back away further so he was in the living room as the stranger advanced towards him.

"Kid, the first time, you were lucky to have missed my attack. Caught me off guard 'cause you can see me. But you're not going to be lucky again." The intruder ran forward and lunged a fist at Tyson.

Tyson had seen it coming. _'This guy…!'_ He dodged the attack only to have a backwards kick to his side, sending him into his glass coffee table and shattering the surface. A heel was just about to slam down onto his head but Tyson rolled to the side again, avoiding a broken nose_. 'This guy isn't just some amateur housebreaker. He's trained. And he's serious.'_ Tyson got up, put up his fists again and gulped. _'Seriously out to get me.'_ He finished his train of thoughts as he blocked a kick from his right, then another from the left.

The intruder kept on attacking Tyson with kicks and punches and Tyson kept on blocking each attack with his arms and hands while backing away. Their movements sent them into the kitchen where the intruder jumped onto the counter and attempted to meld Tyson to the ground with a body slam. But Tyson jumped back just in time. The transparent intruder looked up at Tyson and even though Tyson couldn't see his expression, he could tell that his opponent was frustrated and mad. "You… you're really starting to make me angry. Maybe you're what they say you are. But that just makes me want to beat you more!" And he lunged at Tyson again with a jab. Tyson backed away but was surprised when the intruder pulled out a set of knives and threw them at him.

"Wha--!" Tyson felt a knife slice the side of his cheek when he barely missed the surprise attack from the stranger. He had to get serious now if wanted to beat this guy, for this guy was definitely a professional in his trade. But he… he couldn't fight back… not now…

The intruder had somehow gotten behind him while he had been thinking and got a hold of his long hair in his fist, pulling back.

"AHHH!" Tyson screamed as his opponent held him in a clench fist hold while pulling his hair back at the same time.

"Ha ha ha, hurts doesn't it?" The intruder pulled more and Tyson screamed again. Just as his opponent was about to put the final force in pulling off Tyson's hair completely, Tyson back flipped out of the intruder's hold. For a split second, he was upside down staring into the translucent face of his opponent, next he was right side up again staring at the intruders back and an opening for an attack. Tyson elbowed the intruder in the back of the neck, sending his opponent forward against his will, into the broken shards of the glass coffee table.

"Gahhrr..!" The intruder cried out in pain. Small drips of blood fell on the carpet.

"Why you…" The intruder grabbed the nearby counter stool and threw it at Tyson. Tyson knocked the stool aside with an arm before it could hit him, but doing so left him open for another attack. He was surprised with a kick to his stomach which sent him flying out of his open deck door, out over the railings, and floating fifteen metres above city street.

- - - - - - - - - -

Two arms crossed over one another. "So how goes the repairs?"

"Are you kidding me? The maintenance crew won't be able to come in until next week! They say it's because our conference room window was too big and that they need a new shipment of a glass with our sizes. But the cleanup crew, being us apparently, have gotten rid of all the broken glass already and we've already sealed up the opening with good old fashion wood panels and plastic wrap. Bejeezers, I don't think I can take any more of this!" Said reporter slammed his hands down on the poor coffee table of the lounging room.

"Now, now Lee, we don't need another thing to replace," Rei warned from his seat by the window, "I really like that coffee table actually," and took another sip of his green tea.

"Well you're not the one going through all the trouble for one broken window. Arrghh, damnit Kai! Why'd you have to pick a fight with Boris today? And HERE of all places!" Lee directed a frustrated look towards the cool and silent agent leaning against the median wall of two windows. His arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"Yes, let's book dates with Boris' cronies on what days we're free to fight and tell them that our front entrance is free for them to just walk through because we don't have any security cameras with installed laser beams and hidden weapon detectors that will set off the alarms so that we're aware of their presence."

"But," Lee looked confused, "we do…"

"I think Kai has made his point Lee." Rei gave Lee a sorry look.

"It wouldn't have been like them to do that in the first place anyway. They're too cowardly for that." Max pointed out from his relaxed position on a recliner.

Kenny had been silent throughout the whole conversation until, "But what did they want today? We only usually meet them on missions, but this time they attacked us even without a BitBeast present."

"The Chief is onto something you guys," Everyone except Kai, turned to look at their coordinator sitting on the couch behind the coffee table with his arms still crossed. "Do you know the reason for their sudden movements, Kai?"

Kai's eyes flashed open as he directed his coal grey gaze back at Hiro. "They were searching for something this time."

"Searching for something?" The Chief repeated in question.

"Searching for something that only we had. Most likely, our data."

"Oh of course! Our databases DO have the most sophisticated and wide expanse of BitBeast information and other related topics!" Kenny began to panic, "I hope they didn't ruin Dizzi!"

"Here." Kai took out a black coloured disk and swiftly threw it with only a small movement of his fingers at Hiro, who in turn caught it with an equally small movement.

"That was in the guy's pocket."

Hiro took a closer look at the floppy. "So then they were trying to get our data." An air of uneasiness settled itself amongst the present agents in room.

"It must have been a really smooth job for us to not have noticed anything till near the end." Max inputted, not helping the unease at all.

"Boris is up to something, that's for sure." Rei concluded.

"We're going to have to be extra careful now agents," Hiro took up the lead with a serious tone, "If we falter, Boris is not going to give us a chance to get back up again. There's a possibility they may attack us again and we have to be prepared!"

The lounge door clicked open. "Lee? I locked da door to dat room uhh… 308 an' I've got da key here." A big, bear-sized man stood in the doorway, holding up a gold key.

"Gary! You're not supposed to give the key to me! You're supposed to give it to the director!"

"Oh.. sorries Lee…"

"But for now--" Hiro cut in, "let's call it a night. Everyone get a good rest. We may have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

- - - - - - - - - -

Tyson caught a hold of the deck railing and swung down hard against the front of the bars. "Argh…!" _'Why did this have to happen to me..?'_

The invisible unfamiliar walked out onto the deck, laughing, "Ha ha ha ha… just look at you now. Thought you were pretty smart back there with that flip did you?" The intruder leapt onto the railing, standing on top of Tyson's fingers. "Errr...!" Tyson struggled through clenched teeth.

"He he, thought you were smart right? Do you feel smart now?" The intruder stomped his right foot down on Tyson's fingers, hard. Tyson held onto the round bar with tight fists and endurance, attempting to block out the pain. He didn't make a sound. "Feelin' lucky now?" Stomp.

"Don't got anybody to call for help, do you?" Stomp.

"You're all alone!" Stomp.

"You're not so tough." Stomp. Stomp.

"Didn't even have to try." Stomp. Stomp. Sto—

Beep-beep-beep!

The intruder brought up an arm and stared at his wrist. He sighed. "Looks like you got a break, this time. Unfortunately for me, I can't stay any longer to watch you fall. My business here is done. But don't worry. I'll be back to finish you off in the near future so don't get yourself killed too quickly…" The pressure disappeared from Tyson's fingers as a wind blew through his hair and clothes. The voice passed by Tyson's ear, "…weakling." As he was left hanging there by himself.

He hung there for a few minutes, breathing in the cold night air through short breaths. Then he back flipped till he was crouching on top of the railing, his feet on either side of his bruised hands. He could see through the open glass door into his living room. Alice In Wonderland lay on the crushed coffee table, torn in two.

- - - - - - - - -

Rukiabi: Gah! I challenged StormySkys to a writing competition to see which one of us could write more chapters (even though she already has like 9 stories written with 25 chappys in all and I have how many? 6 stories with 8 chappys in all?) But nevertheless… I'm gonna beat you StormySkys-chan! Just you wait! I'm going to beat youuuuu! (silence) …wahh I love this chappy! It's one of those few chappys that write themselves and make themselves so much more interesting than you had originally planned. (smile smile and sings) I'm on my way to defeating you my wonderful, wonderful Yu-Gi-Oh-fan friend!

P.S. This chapter is dedicated to StormySkys-chan for helping me with her wide knowledge of kickboxing terminology! I'm still going to defeat you!


	4. Action

Rukiabi: (sighs) I wish I could write properly. Notice how the writing changes after a page. (dies) Oh, I went back and edited a little bit of everything. My writing was so formal before. I hope it's a little more casual now. And my excuse for it being almost a year late is that it's twice as long as my last chappy ; So think of it as two chappies in one?

Disclaimer: All characters of Beyblade are © of Aoki Takao.

- - - - - - - - -

When he woke, the sky was a heavy red, orange, and yellow. A sunset maybe? But when he took a look at the knocked over digital clock in the ruined living room, he knew that 4:30AM meant the start of a beautiful sunrise… but a not so beautiful day. The events of yesterday replayed themselves in Tyson's mind. The stranger who had broken into his apartment room and started attacking him, reminded him of the reason why his whole apartment looked like a herd of wild boars had passed by. And why he had woken up that morning, not snuggled up in his now ruined bed, but sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall of his hallway.

His apartment was a mess. There were dents in the walls and most, if not all, of his furniture were damaged in some way. He would have to pay for the damage. He held his face with a hand. Not only was he a mess, he was IN a mess. He couldn't live there any longer.

"I can't stay like this anymore…"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  
Syndicate Ch.4: Action  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

He packed his last dress shirt, which was striped blue and red, into his mini suitcase. When he looked up into the cracked mirror of his dresser, he could clearly see the reflection of several knife punctures sinking into the mattress. The intruder had obviously been frustrated when he couldn't find what he wanted in his room, but when he'd left him hanging there on the precipice between life and death, he'd stated that he'd found what he wanted. Funny thing was nothing had gone missing. He never had many things to begin with in the first place, let alone to steal. But if the intruder hadn't broken into his apartment for an item, what did he take? He didn't even keep a diary or any other source of information worth stealing. What was it and why him? Why that day? Had somebody been spying on him, knowing that he had an appointment that afternoon?

Picking up his suitcase by the handle, Tyson left the room for the front entrance doorway. After unfastening the lock, turning the knob, and swinging the door wide open, he picked up a large, black garbage bag that had been behind the door with his free hand and exited the apartment. Dropping the garbage bag on the floor of the hallway, Tyson turned around to lock the door of his apartment and slip the key into his left pocket. He then picked up the large bag again and marched down the hallway to the stairs at the end, bustling down them since the apartment didn't have an elevator. And when he reached the bottom, he headed straight towards the front desk where the manager, a middle-aged man, sat behind on a corduroy-covered office chair, talking through a phone sandwiched between his chin and his shoulder as he flipped through pages in the newspaper.

"Yeah, I heard about it on the news last night. Another break in? And instead of the cops, they hired in some special ops to take care of the scene. Even heard that some of them were high school delinquents. Can you believe that they're so lazy that they'll let a bunch of kids take all the responsibility?"

The man looked over the brim of 'The Bay Times' and noticed Tyson before folding up his newspapers and answering through the phone, "Eh, Brad, hold up a minute. I've got some business in the shape of a baseball cap at my desk."

Tyson blushed sheepishly in embarrassment before letting go of the black bag and pulling back his baseball cap that he had decided to wear that day so that the man could see his face better. "Good morning Mr. Topper."

"Yo Tyson!" Mr. Topper put the phone down on the desk, "You can call my AJ, you know."

"Yeah…" Tyson scratched the side of his cheek before pulling out a large tin box and the key to the apartment and placing them on the desk before Mr. Topper. Said manager raised a brow, "What's this?"

"I'm paying for the rent."

"But Tyson, you already paid for last month's rent just a week ago…"

"Well I'm paying for a weeks worth of rent and also…" Tyson trailed off staring guiltily at the tin box, "…for the damage."

"Huh?" Mr. Topper leaned in forward with a confused expression, "What was that you said kid?"

"I gotta go now Mr. Topper." Tyson quickly imputed. "Thanks for letting me stay here and…. for everything!" The manager finally noticed the mini suitcase hidden behind Tyson's legs.

"I'll be back sometime in the next week or so to pick up the rest of my stuff. And, I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you. Bye." With that, Tyson swiftly exited the apartment leaving a confused Mr. Topper with a tin full of money in front of him. Like a momentary breeze, the lobby of the apartment was left calm and empty once again.

"Finally left for the stadium eh? Heh, strange kid." The apartment manager thought out loud before picking up the phone and newspaper again. "Yeah, Brad? Well… I suppose some kids can be trusted." Mr. Topper stared through the transparent glass door. "There are some nice kids around here."

- - - - - - - - -

Tyson sighed in relief. Even though Mr. Topper was a nice guy and usually he would have no problems being around him, that morning, he didn't feel like sticking around to chat. Instead, it felt like if he stayed there any longer, the chances of another incident like what happened the previous night would become more and more likely to happen again and soon, his transparent intruder would be kicking down the glass doors demanding vengeance and shooting all of the residents of the apartment with a hidden gun he would pull out.

He didn't want that. No, he didn't want to hurt anyone anymore. And if the guy did ever come back, he wanted to make sure that only he would be involved and no one else.

After passing by an alleyway and throwing the garbage bag filled with small, useless broken objects and appliances into a dumpster, Tyson floated through the streets in a dazed silence. He just couldn't get over what had happened the other day. All of a sudden it was like a rusted-in-place old gear had begun to turn again, causing the whole forgotten grandfather clock to knell into life, its pendulum swinging back and forth without pause. Somewhere, someone was calling for him. Somewhere, he was needed. But maybe, that somewhere was a place he would never be able to walk to.

- - - - - - - - -

Beautiful silk sleeves, blushed with hues of green and garnished in plum leaves, ranging from sienna to chartreuse, brushed against smooth khaki tinted tatami mats. Two slender hands, as if they had been airbrushed in gold, poked out of the openings in the sleeves and crossed over each other in a point. The figure bowed its head and a waterfall of indigo splayed across the mats like the rising tides.

Across from the figure knelt another person wound within overlaying waves of aquamarine, cyan, and turquoise. Sea foam crept along the hem of the gown. Thick, white fog surrounded the two figures, incasing the two in a world of their own.

The first figure, after raising its head, lifted a tea scoop and began scooping spoonfuls of powdered tea leaves into a ceramic bowl.

The second figure's face was shadowed by the fog so intensely that even its expression could not be seen. "That is not right. Remember, when we are in the room, we are all equals."

The first finished ladling hot water from a china tea kettle to the bowl and took to stirring the mix with a whisk. "But, it is always an honor to be with you."

When the tea was finally prepared, two golden palms gently pushed the bowl across the tatami to the second figure. The second figure bowed to the first, accepted the bowl and took a sip.

"Excellent." The second figure said already wiping the ceramic edge with its sleeve. "You have made a most wonderful tea."

"No," The first accepted the bowl back from the second, "I could not have done it without you."

"I believe you could have, for your talents are exceeding."

The opaque mist covered the first figure's blush. "I am grateful of your words."

It seemed almost an eternity of silence had passed between the two figures as they continued to exchange sips from the ceramic bowl. The eternity was spent with iridescent voices, floating through the misted air and whispering in the background.

"_The moon was very beautiful last night."_

"_You were out on the balcony?"_

"_Yes. I was enjoying the night air."_

"_Remember not to stay out too long."_

"_Yes."_

The first figure silently sighed in contentment as it finished sipping the tea.

"_How are the gardens? You are tending them now are you not?"_

"_Yes, I was amazed by how they were able to stay alive for so long."_

"_It's good that you have decided to take care of them now. The doctors could not tell apart a flower from a chemical."_

"_That is true, but neither am I a gardener."_

The second figure accepted the bowl from the first gratefully.

"_How is your health? You are training hard everyday?"_

"_I am and I feel that I am in perfect condition."_

Silence was good during those times but there was an end to everything, including silence.

"You are fond of him…?"

The first figure paused in mid-sip. It was a question that it had not expected.

_Fond of Him?_ Him could have been anyone, but the first figure knew exactly who '_him_' was that the second was referring to. It had been true that lately, they had been spending much more time together and the hours spent were always enjoyed. They had found many effective ways of using their days and it was always within the other's time frame. Surely, when other people saw them together, they would have seemed merely as very good friends. But how did they feel as individuals together?

The first figure set down the bowl and retracted its golden wrists underneath soothing forest green fabric. Staring into the empty void of an elliptical eye, the figure thought that the answer was evident and had been staring into both of them for quite a while; for days, months, and years. Like was not too strong of a word.

"I.."

_..hey.._

"I.."

_kid.._

"I like-"

"HEY KID!!"

"What?!?"

Tyson's neck had almost cracked from the sudden movement. "ARGH!" His eyes squeezed shut as his hands came around behind his head to hold against the pain. Ah, he'd been sleeping in a weird position. He must have dozed off after he'd sat down.

"Kid, this is your stop."

Oh yeah, he had asked the bus driver to tell him when they arrived at his stop.

Still whimpering, Tyson stood up whilst rubbing the back of his neck. He gave the bus driver an apologetic gesture with his free hand- "Thanks." –and stepped off the vehicle with his luggage in tow.

He walked down the busy side walk of Bay City. There were many people and a lot of them looked like business men going to their coffee breaks. Along both sides of the street were shops and boutiques of all different fashion and above them where high story buildings housing offices of important companies and media networks like 'KNN Sports News', 'The Bay Times', and 'Station BEGA'. Before he knew it, he had arrived at his destination.

He waited for the electronic doors to slide apart before walking into the BeyBlade Association's lobby. He walked up to the reception desk although no one seemed to be there.

"Hello? Is there anyone here?"

No one. Strange. Maybe they were on a coffee/lunch break as well?

He decided that he wasn't going to get anywhere just by waiting for someone to direct him. He was going to have to move himself forwards. After all, all he had to do was speak with the director again and all would be set down.

Tyson chose the elevator farthest from him this time in order to take in all that the large lobby offered that he had missed the first time in his haste.

Monsters; they looked liked creatures of incredible power sliding behind a granite finish along the walls. He hadn't even noticed until he analyzed the flooring closely that each tile had been strategically placed in order to resemble a great snake-like dragon, slithering towards the elevators and stairs.

He pushed a button and almost right away, the doors parted in order to carry him to the floor of his desire. He chose the same floor as the other day and thought back to the incident that had occurred in room 308. Tyson wondered if he would be seeing any of those agents anytime soon, especially the dual-tone haired one who had so easily brushed him aside.

The elevator came to a halt after a 'ping!' and he stepped off the marble onto carpet. Where was he now?

Tyson turned left and walked down the length of the hallway, trailing his hand across the tall glass windows on his right. He seemed to be in a different part of the building than he had been in the first time. Although the hall continued further down, he decided to turn left at an intersecting hallway.

'Maybe it's just around the corner…' was what Tyson had thought before he bumped into a plastic tray jutting out of the intersection all of a sudden, heard a surprised scream as he fell onto his bottom, and felt something hot running down his shirt and pants.

"Ouch…" A girl in a pink shirt and white skirt with brown hair, seeming to be the same age as him, was on the ground rubbing her bottom.

"Ah! Oh no, oh no, oh no!!" She exclaimed after taking notice of the mess.

"I am soooo sorry!"

"Oh…" Tyson looked down and finally recognized the scent of coffee staining his clothes.

"Ehehe," he smiled, "its okay. It was a mistake."

But before he could get up, the brunette had already taken out a napkin after kneeling beside him and was dabbing at the spots.

"No. It's NOT okay! I should have been watching where I was going and because of my carelessness, you were punished instead."

"Eh? Uh well, I wasn't really paying too much attention either—"

"Come with me right now!" The brunette picked up the spilled coffee mugs and plastic tray and started tugging at Tyson's sleeve.

"I'll have you cleaned up right away!"

"What? No—its okay--"

But he was pulled by a force he hadn't felt in a long time, the brute strength of a woman.

"Come on! Let's go, hustle up mister!"

Tyson had been pulled up to his feet and was now being lead back the way he came. Together, they stepped into the nearest elevator before the girl punched a button and the elevator moved upwards.

"It's just one floor up." The brunette added in before the elevator came to a halt. He stumbled out of the elevator and was dragged by the arm once more. After turning corners left and right, they finally reached a small white room.

"You can sit here." said the girl as she pushed him down on a stool by the shoulders, "I'll be right back." And the brunette disappeared behind a white curtain so that Tyson was left sitting alone and wondering what had just happened.

Without a say in the matter, he had been pulled away from his original route and was now stuck in what seemed to be an infirmary. He set his baggage on the ground beside the sickbed. If he hadn't been gripping tightly at his suitcase the whole time, he would have surely lost it some ways back.

The curtain was pulled aside and there stood the girl now with a white coat over her pink shirt and white skirt. In her hand, she held a wet towel.

"Here!" The girl threw the towel to Tyson. "That's to wipe your skin with so that so that the coffee doesn't stick later."

"Thanks." As he began to pull off his shirt, the brunette seemed to notice the suitcase for the first time.

"Hey, I've never seen you here before. Are you an employee from one of the lower floors?"

"Ah, well, no, not exactly…" Tyson stumbled over words.

What should he say? He was sure that the BBA kept the identity of their counterpart workings a secret from the employees working for the BeyBlade Association. If the girl knew of the existence of the BitBeast Acquisition then maybe he could inquire her about the job, but if she didn't then it would be best not to tell her anything. And the fact that he was attacked before at the same time as he had gotten himself involved with the BitBeast Acquisition didn't reassure him at all.

"Then what exactly?" The brunette pressed as she pulled out another stool from behind the curtain and sat in front of Tyson. Her legs crossed and her chin rested on her elbow on her knee. She looked as if she were a councilor ready to listen and comment on whatever was said in the next hour. If the coffee wasn't already sticking to him then the sweat was. He wiped the back of his neck with the towel.

"I came here for… a job interview… because I was given an invitation to work at the BBA."

The brunette's eyebrows were furrowed as she nodded, "Oh I see, and you're going to the interview wearing that?" She pointed to his bare chest.

Tyson's cheeks reddened, "Well I was wearing a shirt—"

"No!" the brunette interrupted, "I mean you must have some formal attire on you, not any labor clothes." She described 'labor clothes' with a wave of her hand in Tyson's direction.

"Because this is a big corporation, you have to have formal wear when you come into the building. That's your suitcase right? Let's see what clothes you can change into." The brunette lifted the mini suitcase onto the bed and unlatched the locks.

"Wait a second--" He reached out a hand in a pathetic protest for his privacy.

Her expression fell upon seeing the layers of second-hand thrift store shirts and turned sour when flipping through the tattered worn jeans.

"Hmm…" The girl's nose wrinkled in distaste, "No, these simply will not do."

She slammed the trunk shut. With quick, bold strides, she cuffed Tyson's wrist in her tight chain-like hold and began dragging him once more, this time out of the room.

"Uh-hey, where are we going?"

"Where else? Shopping!"

"But wait, we can't do this now and aren't you still working?" Tyson protested but continued to allow himself to be dragged down the hallways and down the elevators.

"Oh don't worry, everybody's on a break right now anyway."

The two existed the office building, one leading with chest up high and the other nearly on the ground, wondering how he had come to meet so many twists and bends of situational irony in his life during the past couple of days. He never expected himself to be going out shopping with a girl about his age whom he didn't even know after almost falling from a four story apartment building.

"W-wait!" Tyson stumbled over a crack in the sidewalk.

"What is it?" The brunette's heels clacked rhythmically against the cement. "We have to hurry and get you some proper clothing before your interview--"

"What's your name?"

The girl slowed down her pace and allowed Tyson to catch his breath.

"It's Hilary," the brunette looked back and smiled at Tyson, "Tachibana Hilary. I'm 18 years old, a Gemini with blood type O, and am a top nurse with a Bachelors degree in nursing employed by the BeyBlade Association!"

Tyson straightened and smiled back.

"I'm Tyson, Kinomiya Tyson."

"It's nice to meet you," her smile widened in excitement, "—now let's go!"

Tyson felt himself be dragged by Hilary's determination down the streets of Bay City and into several shops and boutiques. The grip of her hand on his wrist was as tight and tense as metal chains, hinting to Tyson that he had no choice but to follow her wherever she decided to go.

"This one here— no that one— wait across the street!!"

"Wait for me Hilary…"

Finally Hilary settled on a men's apparel shop, displaying top quality suits that only the most successful businessman would wear. The prices sticking innocently out of the sleeves were to die for. When they began browsing through the Prada and Armani suits, Tyson attempted to protest again.

"Hilary, these shops are all really expensive, I don't think I can pay for them. In fact, uh, I left my wallet back at the BBA! So maybe we should just forget it--"

"NO." Hilary stared Tyson down with a hardened jaw. "We can't give up so easily!"  
_  
"We can't give up so easily!"_

Tyson tried to swallow but his throat was too dry.

"What's five hundred or a thou?"

"A thousand is a lot!" He barely retorted.

"Don't worry," she beamed, "you can pay me back later!" And she turned back to the rack with the glint from her eyes reflecting off of the metal bars.

"Hilary…"

'_Sleep now…'_

"Hmm?" Tyson looked out towards the windows. It felt like someone or something had spoken just now… from outside the shop and yet at the same time, from within the folds of his mind.

'_Sleep now… so I can be free!'_

There! He definitely heard that call. He had a bad feeling in his gut. Something was going to happen!

"Ah this is perfect! Hey Tyson, what do you think of this?" Hilary pulled her head out of the rack and held out the suit with excitement, only to meet with silence. The space where the blunette had previously stood was now unoccupied.

"Tyson?"

- - - - - - - - -

Tyson sprinted down the street with wind flapping against his shirt, rolling past cold sweat. He halted at an intersection four blocks from the shop he left in order to catch his breath and think of what to do next. He was holding his knees and panting lightly when a sudden screeching of car tires rang through his eardrums and a splitting crash of two forces colliding shook through his bones. He looked up and saw a large truck sliding past him, spinning out of control right before his eyes.

"Look-look out!" Tyson screamed out into the open to no one in particular.

But it was too late. People screamed as they ran out of the way and cars on the road screamed out of control themselves, attempting to spin out of the truck's destructive path. Unfortunately, the truck rammed into a poor automobile and with inertia, slammed it along with itself against a brick building. Black smoke billowed out from the hood of the truck and chaos ensued.

"Oh my god, that truck, it just, it just!!"

"Are those guys alright?"

"Somebody call an ambulance! Get them out of there, quick!"

Tyson ran towards large, growing crowd of concerned witnesses and pushed his way through it in order to see the result of the crash. It was a large, 5 ton truck that had past him at the intersection and crashed into the side of a brick office building. Its hood was completely crumpled from the resistant wall and smoke poured out from underneath the hood like steam from a boiling kettle, surrounding the area in a light fog. The small automobile the truck rammed into was caught between the tail of the truck and the wall. Through despite its situation, it looked to be in better condition than the truck.

He clenched his fists. _'I have to get them out of there!'_

"Excuse me!" Tyson pushed through between a man and a woman holding on tightly to the hand of her child. Covering his nose and mouth with his right arm, Tyson ran into the thick smoke. He heard some people call behind him, "Wait boy! Don't go in there!" But he ignored them. He had to do something or it else it could be too late.

He rushed towards the smoking truck first where a man sat slumped over an airbag, nearly suffocating to death. The windshield had completely shattered which had most probably caused the bleeding in the man's skull.

"Don't worry sir, I'll get you out right away!"

Tyson threw open the truck door and just as he was pulling out the fainted man, a cry like that of a hawk's barely buzzed through the broken speakers.

"_Scree…_bzzz bzzz… _help me!_ …this is BEGA 99.3… bzzz…"

A radio? The call from within the radio sounds so familiar…

"Next we're…bzzz… to play 'Always Be in the Game'!"

Tyson shook his head to clear his thoughts. No, he has to think about getting the injured drivers out of the area first!

He hauled the man over his back and carried him to the awaiting crowd first, deciding to go back for the other person after he saved the trucker. He was immediately encircled by people when he emerged from the heavy smoke and praised for his bravery.

"Oh he saved that man!"

"Good job boy!"

"Well done!"

"Thanks," Tyson handed the man to another person from the crowd, "now for the other--"

An explosion sounded from behind Tyson and everyone screamed once more. _'No!'_ Tyson thought, _'It can't be!'_

Through the smoke, red flames grew from behind the truck. The automobile had blown up, along with its passenger.

"NOOO!!" Tyson screamed.

People ran in fear like wild fire farther away from the site of the incident. A few seconds later, a larger explosion sounded with fire and black smoke curling into the sky and the sound of a hawk's cry ending in a sorrowful screech. The fire from the small car had reached the truck's fuel tank and had blown up the truck along with it.

"No…" Tyson fell on his knees.

He wasn't able to save the other driver. If he hadn't saved the trucker, the explosion would have killed the trucker too. But even knowing that… He clenched his eyes tight to hold back the tears. He wanted to save them both!

But how did it happen in the first place? Tyson's eyes flashed open in realization. The call for help through the radio, it hadn't been human. It was from…!!! He heard it back in the shop as well. Tyson picked himself up, now more determined than ever.

BEGA 99.3. He passed the radio station on his way to the BBA! Tyson turned and began sprinting in the direction that he came from with all his might. He passed the BBA HQ, past pedestrians and other obstacles, and ignored the complaints as wind whipped his hair from side to side.

The BEGA sign floated in the distance before his eyes like a curling finger.

- - - - - - - - -

"This is BEGA 99.3 and I'm your DJ Jazzman here to play the top punk rock music today for all you listeners out there so let's rock it up with 'Rise above the Storm'!"

- - - - - - - - -

Tyson stormed into the building—"H-hey! Hold up there, that's a restricted area!" ---, completely ignoring the security guards and other employees surprised by his sudden intrusion, and took the stairwell towards the fifth floor.

"We have an intruder with blue hair and a baseball cap heading upstairs!" One of the security guards shouted into his walkie-talkie as he chased after Tyson.

But he can't stop to get arrested! The signs stated a broadcasting room somewhere on the fifth floor. He has to stop the broadcasting as soon as possible, before more people get caught in the BitBeast's spell.

After rounding the corner of the last set of stairs, Tyson rushed through the door and ran down the hallway of the fifth floor, checking left and right for a broadcasting room.

'_Sleep… go to sleep…'_

He skidded to a stop to the last room down the hall and barged into the studio.

"You have to stop airing right now!"

"Eh? Who're you?" asked the sound technician.

"It doesn't matter. Please, just stop the airing right now!

"I don't know who you are but you have no authorization to be in here--"

No, it couldn't wait any longer. Behind that sound proof door was a BitBeast capable of endangering the lives of thousands of people. If these people wouldn't listen to him then—

But just as Tyson was about to advance towards to the separated room, he was suddenly held back by two sets of arms.

"You're going to have to come with us kid."

"No!" Tyson struggled against the grip of the security guards. "You guys have to stop airing! Please listen to me!"

'_sleep…help me, I just want to be free!'_

"Stop the airing."

Tyson ceased struggling and looked towards the source of the command. At the doorway of the studio stood a blond man wearing an olive green trench coat and holding up a shiny, gold badge.

"Officer Mizuhara Max. I'm here to see DJ Jazzman." The blond turned to the sound tech, "Cease the broadcast please."

Tyson couldn't believe his eyes. What was HE doing there? And as a police officer!

The sound technician looked almost equally as speechless as he stuttered, "Uhh, y-yes!"

After a few seconds, DJ Jazzman emerged from the broadcast room, red with anger. "What is the problem?!"

The blond officer pulled out a set of handcuffs from his trench coat pocket. "The problem? Why, you are." And he advanced upon the radio host. Before the DJ had anytime to react, officer Mizuhara had gotten behind him and cuffed his wrists. "You are hereby under arrest for assault and burglary."

"Assault and burglary? I haven't done anything like that!"

But the officer ignored the protests of the radio host, "You have the right to remain silent," and led the poor, confused DJ out of the studio.

Tyson broke out of the hold from the stupefied security guards and ran after the blond, shouting, "Max!"

The blond officer paused in the hallway on his way to the elevators with the arrested DJ.

"Tyson." He turned around and smiled at him. "Have you decided?"

"Max…" Tyson stared into two dark blue eyes. It was as if he was attempting to find the bottom of a trench on the sea floor, an endless trench.

"If you have," Max started towards the elevators again, "then come with me."

Tyson stared at the back of the blond as the distance between them increased. The reason why he decided to go to the BBA that morning came back to him and he recalled his determination in signing up. Although he was caught off guard upon meeting Hilary, he was able to save a life thanks to her intrusive actions. But he also witnessed the loss of a life and relived the feeling of helplessness. He was helpless in preventing death.

Tyson's eyes shone with renewed determination and he took a step forward.

"I'm going to take action now."

- - - - - - - - -


End file.
